Update: The Angels & Demons Teaser Trailer!

Columbia Pictures has revealed the new teaser trailer for Angels & Demons, hitting theaters on May 15th. In the film, based upon the bestselling novel by Dan Brown (“The Da Vinci Code”), Tom Hanks reprises his role as Harvard religious expert Robert Langdon, who once again finds that forces with ancient roots are willing to stop at nothing, even murder, to advance their goals. Ron Howard again directs the film, which is produced by Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, and John Calley. The screenplay is by David Koepp and Akiva Goldsman.

When Langdon discovers evidence of the resurgence of an ancient secret brotherhood known as the Illuminati – the most powerful underground organization in history – he also faces a deadly threat to the existence of the secret organization’s most despised enemy: the Catholic Church. When Langdon learns that the clock is ticking on an unstoppable Illuminati time bomb, he jets to Rome, where he joins forces with Vittoria Vetra, a beautiful and enigmatic Italian scientist. Embarking on a nonstop, action-packed hunt through sealed crypts, dangerous catacombs, deserted cathedrals, and even to the heart of the most secretive vault on earth, Langdon and Vetra will follow a 400-year-old trail of ancient symbols that mark the Vatican’s only hope for survival.

You can watch the teaser at the official website and at MSN, where you can sign up for the new “Path of Illumination Contest.”

UPDATE: ‘Jake’ alerted us that during the teaser trailer, when the “Illuminati” text comes up, if you stop it at the right frame, you’ll see the folowing text: “altarsofscience”. If you then go to AltarsofScience.com (a site owned by Sony Pictures), you’ll see the bomb ticking under the Vatican.

The book fictionalizes a story about the Altars of Science in Rome, consisting of four locations, each representing the four elementsearth, air, fire and waterwhich are believed to be “the Path of Illumination,” a trail to the meeting place of the Illuminati in Rome.

According to the book, the “altars” were hidden as religious artwork in order to avoid the wrath of the Vatican and secure the secrecy of the Illuminati. The artworks that make up the Four Altars were all sculpted by Gian Lorenzo Bernini.